Mariadahl Orphan Home

The Mariadahl Orphan Home was established by the Kansas
Conference of the Augustana Lutheran Church in 1879. Located in the Blue
River Valley and in the Mariadahl settlement, its name continued the honor of
Maria Johnson for whom the community was named and who was the first of the
Swedish pioneers to die in this new settlement.

The children's home extended her care to 620 children from 1880 to 1959.
It was closely associated with the Mariadahl Lutheran Church, the first Lutheran
Church organized by Swedish people west of the Missouri River.

In 1959 the home was closed to make way for the development of the Tuttle Creek
Dam, but the service to children has continued as the Lutheran Welfare Service
in Manhattan, Kansas.